We’ve all done it. Start up a new hobby, “just for fun.” Endless spending, not really tracking and before you know it… “Wow! Maybe I could actually make something of this?” But even if it’s not your life long dream, there is still something amazing that can come from it.
I see so many people make a mistake, either as a hobby disc jockey or a DJ that wants to make a real career out of music. They miss the opportunity to learn how to run it as a business. This is important for a few reason, as explained below along with a fancy spreadsheet. But before you run off thinking, “Nah… it’s not worth it.” Hear me out because I want you to WIN and enjoy the best year of your life, yet! So what does running your hobby as a career get you?
1. Game changing skills that puts you in control of your life:
When you know how to run your hobby as a business, you learn how to run a freaking business. That gets you a head of the game. Say for example you are in a career you don’t love or you boss it kind of a jerk. The skills you have are useful and can make you decent coin. But on your own, you could charge more. You could pick your own hours and clients. Now you’ve got freedom. Instead of staying with a company that drains your energy or feeling stuck in a dead end job, you realize, “I have options!” Maybe you don’t run out and start a new company right away but you test out side jobs to figure out what works and what doesn’t. Maybe you build the confidence in asking for that raise because you know, you have other options. You might even find yourself in a completely different career all together from exploring your hobby as a disc jockey, landing you in running sound or lighting for big events. Treating it as a business, builds skills that put you in control of your future endeavors.
2. You take what you do more seriously:
When your tracking your spending and income you’ll natural start making better choices. Just like when you are focusing on your health journey, paying attention to how you feel when you eat certain foods or do various workouts. If you know certain foods make you feel terrible you avoid them. When you notice you feel better when you’ve gone for a daily walk and adding in weight training, you are more likely to keep doing it. You build better habits over time that increase the quality of life.
Same goes for your work. In the DJ world, you might find yourself negotiating better wages because you are tracking both your spending, energy and time going into prepping, planning and practicing. You may see the benefit in investing in your future by ways of workshops, production equipment and business insurance. You may even find yourself working smarter vs. harder. Doing better quality work and planning into your sets. All of these things build confidence and skills that last a life time.
3. Surprising Financial Benefits : YES, even for the HOBBY DJs!
A lot of people think, “If I’m not making that much it’s not really worth claiming my income.”
Question… Do you use your internet or mobile device to promote yourself online? Do you pay for your music, your Soundcloud space and even Spotify account to find new artists or promote yourself? Do you cab to and from gigs? Have you used your car to drive out to events and music festivals that you are playing? How about hotels and flights where you were paid an, “all in” fee, to travel to another city to perform?
You might not be able to right off the full % but over a year’s time IT ADDS UP. Now your able to right off a % of your car payments, insurance, maintenance and fuel. By treating your ‘hobby’ as a business, you’ve just gain a little extra income and savings on your everyday items and uses. And it costed you a fraction of the time you spend prepping for a couple of gigs.
Bonus:
Today I am leaving you with a little spreadsheet for you to utilize in the new year with. There is even room for extra expenses for you to add, to make your tracking journey a little easier. A few extra tips while you do your best to track future expenses.
1. Put all your receipts in one place.
|2. You may find it helpful to write the $ total and date on the top of receipts. Highlighting items if there are some that aren’t expenses.
3. Go over everything weekly or monthly to avoid overwhelm at the end of year.
4. Use one card if possible when making business purchases. This will help track anything you might have missed and helps when trying to track expenses ie. Easy for searching later on apps or banking websites. i.e fuel / cab company.
5. Use an online invoicing system. Many are free if you have less than $1000 a month in extra income. But often are only a few bucks a month and again, can be claimed as an expense.
6. Hire someone to do our taxes. Trust me, it’s worth the peace of mind that you haven’t missed anything, or you haven’t made any errors that will cost you down the line.
We’ve all done it. Start up a new hobby, “just for fun.” Endless spending, not really tracking and before you know it… “Wow! Maybe I could actually make something of this?” But even if it’s not your life long dream, there is still something amazing that can come from it.
I see so many people make a mistake, either as a hobby disc jockey or a DJ that wants to make a real career out of music. They miss the opportunity to learn how to run it as a business. This is important for a few reason, as explained below along with a fancy spreadsheet. But before you run off thinking, “Nah… it’s not worth it.” Hear me out because I want you to WIN and enjoy the best year of your life, yet! So what does running your hobby as a career get you?
1. Game changing skills that puts you in control of your life:
When you know how to run your hobby as a business, you learn how to run a freaking business. That gets you a head of the game. Say for example you are in a career you don’t love or you boss it kind of a jerk. The skills you have are useful and can make you decent coin. But on your own, you could charge more. You could pick your own hours and clients. Now you’ve got freedom. Instead of staying with a company that drains your energy or feeling stuck in a dead end job, you realize, “I have options!” Maybe you don’t run out and start a new company right away but you test out side jobs to figure out what works and what doesn’t. Maybe you build the confidence in asking for that raise because you know, you have other options. You might even find yourself in a completely different career all together from exploring your hobby as a disc jockey, landing you in running sound or lighting for big events. Treating it as a business, builds skills that put you in control of your future endeavors.
2. You take what you do more seriously:
When your tracking your spending and income you’ll natural start making better choices. Just like when you are focusing on your health journey, paying attention to how you feel when you eat certain foods or do various workouts. If you know certain foods make you feel terrible you avoid them. When you notice you feel better when you’ve gone for a daily walk and adding in weight training, you are more likely to keep doing it. You build better habits over time that increase the quality of life.
Same goes for your work. In the DJ world, you might find yourself negotiating better wages because you are tracking both your spending, energy and time going into prepping, planning and practicing. You may see the benefit in investing in your future by ways of workshops, production equipment and business insurance. You may even find yourself working smarter vs. harder. Doing better quality work and planning into your sets. All of these things build confidence and skills that last a life time.
3. Surprising Financial Benefits : YES, even for the HOBBY DJs!
A lot of people think, “If I’m not making that much it’s not really worth claiming my income.”
Question… Do you use your internet or mobile device to promote yourself online? Do you pay for your music, your Soundcloud space and even Spotify account to find new artists or promote yourself? Do you cab to and from gigs? Have you used your car to drive out to events and music festivals that you are playing? How about hotels and flights where you were paid an, “all in” fee, to travel to another city to perform?
You might not be able to right off the full % but over a year’s time IT ADDS UP. Now your able to right off a % of your car payments, insurance, maintenance and fuel. By treating your ‘hobby’ as a business, you’ve just gain a little extra income and savings on your everyday items and uses. And it costed you a fraction of the time you spend prepping for a couple of gigs.
Bonus:
Today I am leaving you with a little spreadsheet for you to utilize in the new year with. There is even room for extra expenses for you to add, to make your tracking journey a little easier. A few extra tips while you do your best to track future expenses.
1. Put all your receipts in one place.
|2. You may find it helpful to write the $ total and date on the top of receipts. Highlighting items if there are some that aren’t expenses.
3. Go over everything weekly or monthly to avoid overwhelm at the end of year.
4. Use one card if possible when making business purchases. This will help track anything you might have missed and helps when trying to track expenses ie. Easy for searching later on apps or banking websites. i.e fuel / cab company.
5. Use an online invoicing system. Many are free if you have less than $1000 a month in extra income. But often are only a few bucks a month and again, can be claimed as an expense.
6. Hire someone to do our taxes. Trust me, it’s worth the peace of mind that you haven’t missed anything, or you haven’t made any errors that will cost you down the line.
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